Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The ongoing diplomatic row between Berlin and Ankara continues, and much of the German press devoted front pages to the matter | Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images

euro-press review

Europe’s Turkey woes

Also in the press today: UK Labour’s alleged university fee U-turn and Catalonia.

Germany

The ongoing diplomatic row between Berlin and Ankara continues, and much of the German press devoted front pages to the matter. Frankfurter Allgemeine quoted German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier saying, "To stop [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan is a question of self-respect." Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on its front page that Erdoğan rebuffed German criticism and said Turkey is a "country of laws." Right-leaning Die Welt led with: "The federal government should set a deadline for Turkey." Leftist paper Die Tageszeitung led with an opinion piece on Turkish-Germans being made to feel unwelcome.

France

Left-leaning Libération also led its front page with Erdoğan, depicting two hands in stocks made out of newspaper, with the caption: "The press according to Erdoğan." The accompanying story was written in collaboration with Turkish opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet. The story came as 17 Cumhuriyet employees go on trial in Turkey on charges of aiding a terrorist organization.

Le Figaro led with a story on the Catalan regional government's quest for independence from Spain, featuring an editorial titled "Spanish divorce," in which the conservative paper came out against independence, saying "at the time of great challenges to civilization ... a fragmentation of Europe could be hazardous." The paper also ran a story on Macron's plummeting poll numbers in the wake of proposed cuts to the military and local governments.

UK

Much of the British press focused on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's apparent U-turn on student debt. Corbyn promised during his U.K. election campaign to make universities free and "deal with" the debt accrued by students under the current Conservative government, which implemented an almost threefold increase in fees in 2012. Appearing on the BBC on Sunday, Corbyn said: "I did not make a commitment that we would write it off." The conservative press pounced. "Corbyn's student debt humiliation," said the Daily Mail. The Metro: "We didn't say we'd write off student debts," and the Times: "No pledge on student debt, says Corbyn." The Guardian led with a story on a spike in alcohol-related deaths. And the i reported on the cyber threat to the NHS.

Spain

It was all corruption and Catalan independence chatter in the Spanish press Monday. El País reported, "Catalan writers and artists refuse the illegal referendum." Ara, a newspaper that favors Catalan secession, reported 64 percent of eligible voters are expected to participate in the referendum scheduled on October 1, with 41.9 percent in favor, and 37.8 percent against independence. (Another poll published over the weekend suggested the opposite.) El Mundo and La Razón reported on the Gürtel matter, a corruption case implicating the ruling Popular Party.